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Fall 2011

Yohji Yamamoto

Designer: Yohji YamamotoFounded: 1981, TokyoOwned By: PrivateHistory: Yamamoto's first line, Y's—a women's collection heavily influenced by men's clothes—debuted in 1972. His namesake label launched in Paris a decade later (menswear was added in 1984), kick-starting a long career of avant-garde designs—deeply influenced by ancient Japanese traditions of beauty and functional dressing—that are often far removed from current fashion-world trends. Yamamoto is the only Japanese designer to have received the Chevalier de L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Minister of Culture. The Look: Cutting-edge samurai, all about movement and flow